Double Grained Rice in Bangladesh

Updates of 10 March, 2012

Biram Sundori Seedlings

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Updates of 5 March, 2012:

Certainly you are among the few in Human history who is looking at the double shoots of a single rice seed. Rice Evolutionary history doesn’t say much about multiple grained rice. [Scroll down for more updates]

Double grained Biram Sundori has sprouted with two shoots and two seminal roots.

A small group of smart farmers in Bangladesh were secretly and sacredly nurturing in field the unique rice variety (or species!) that has two (sometime three) grains in a rice seed. It has not been so far noticed that this type of rice exists in any other country of the world.

“Biram Sundori” Of Bangladesh

We have the honor from the locality of providing us with few

seeds for research purpose.

Update:

Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton of International Rice Genebank in the Philippines has just informed us that they have a variety collected from Nepal called Laila Majnu, sent here in 1981, and conserved in the genebank as accession IRGC 59101

Laila.Majnu of Nepal, Foto: Flora de Guzman, IRRI

Updates: 20 February, 2012

If you didn’t receive the grains yet, following fotos will give us some insight into the karnels design of Biram Sundori.

Biram Subdori

Biram Sundori

Biram Sundori

Biram Sundori

Biram Sundori

Biram Sundori

Biram Sundori

Biram Sundori

Biram Sundori

Biram Sundori

Biram Sundori

Biram Sundori

Single grain in Biram Sundori

Biram Sundori

Biram Sundori

Few Biram Sundori does have Awn

Biram Sundori under lights

Biram Sundori under lights

Biram Sundori under lights

Tripple grain in Biram Sundori is not uncommon

Updates: 26 February, 2012

First Biram Sundari has been germinated in 6 days.

Biram Sundori examined

Biram Sundori Tag!

Biram Sundori in Banana stalk to germinate

Biram Sundori germinated

Biram Sundori Tag!

Updates: 05 March, 2012

Double sprouted Biram Sundori has emerged and been sowed

Single sprouted Biram Sundori sowed earlier produced a unique seedling

Seedling from single sprouted Biram Sundori

The first Biram Sundori has germinated with two sprouts.

Double sprouted Biram Sundori

Double sprouted Biram Sundori

Double sprouted Biram Sundori

Probably single sprouted Biram Sundori

Double sprouted Biram Sundori

Double sprouted Biram Sundori

Double sprouted Biram Sundori

Double sprouted Biram Sundori has two Seminal Roots

Double sprouted Biram Sundori

Double sprouted Biram Sundori on seed bed

Comments of Agriculturist Shah Alom , Agricultural Officer of Birampur- who initiated of

Agricultural officer of Birampur

exploring the discovery for National audience and honored us with some seeds: “The grain has two ovule to produce two kernel”.

[…] LATER: For completeness, the name of the Bangladeshi variety which started all this, Biram Sundori means “beautiful girl from Birampur,” which is the place where it is grown. Thanks for leading us all on this journey to Zakir Sor. […]

Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton of the IRRI genebank points out we are confusing clustered spikelets with multi-grained spikelets. Sorry.

Clustered spikelets are more common, and are recognized in the rice descriptors. We have 254 such varieties from 26 countries, mostly in S and SE Asia. Spikelets may be borne directly on the long primary branches of the panicle and/or on short secondary branches, in varying proportions. If none are directly on primary branches, or on the short secondary branches, they appear as clusters of three spikelets. See fig. 8 in the 2008 rice descriptors publication.

The multi-grained spikelets noted by Zakir are more unusual – multiple grains in single spikelets.

Old literature on developmental anatomy concludes that rice spikelets are primitively three-grained, of which the two lateral have become vestigial (hence “sterile lemma”). It would be interesting to know if the multi-grained spikelets are a reversion to primitive type, or a new splitting of the central grain.

Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton, Head, T.T. Chang Genetic Resources Centre, International Rice Research Institute points out 1960 reference to the same and other unusual variants in a Chinese variety: http://www.jipb.net/pubsoft/content/2/2510/9-1-8.pdf. It refers to similar findings in a paper published in 1944.